header-logo header-logo

17 September 2019 / Michael Zander KC
Categories: Features , Brexit , Constitutional law
printer mail-detail

What odds on Boris Johnson losing the Supreme Court case?

Michael Zander QC on the strength of the argument that proroguing Parliament was unlawful

Retired Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption has predicted that his former colleagues would probably hold that the prime minister’s prorogation of parliament was not justiciable. That was my view too. But having read Lord Pannick’s written case for Gina Miller, the lead appellant, I have changed my mind. I now think there is a fair chance that the decision will go the other way and reverse the unanimous decision of the Divisional Court given on 6 September by the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, and the president of the Queen’s Bench Division.

Lord Pannick’s 25-page argument (see the Supreme Court’s website) proceeds in stages:

  • The legal principle of parliamentary sovereignty requires that the executive must comply with the enacted will of Parliament. It is implicit in that legal principle that there must be legal limits on the power of the executive to prevent Parliament from sitting so that
If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Sackers—Zak Ullah

Sackers—Zak Ullah

Sackers welcomes new associate

Christy Davies—Birmingham Law Society

Christy Davies—Birmingham Law Society

Ward Hadaway lawyer joins Birmingham Law Society Council

Ellisons—Stephanie Westwood & Anisa Khan

Ellisons—Stephanie Westwood & Anisa Khan

Ellisons expands Chelmsford commercial litigation team with two appointments

NEWS
Businesses incorporating open-source software into commercial products could face obligations to disclose valuable source code, with AI-assisted development making licensing risks harder to track
Careless client checks do not automatically make a solicitor dishonest, but deliberately avoiding confirmation of suspected wrongdoing can cross the line
Construction workers injured in comparable accidents can face sharply different routes to compensation on opposite sides of the Atlantic
Victims of undue influence may have more options than simply unwinding a tainted transaction, with courts able to order profits accounts, compensation and, exceptionally, severance
Disabled people could lose vital safeguards following the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Cheshire West test for deprivation of liberty, two barristers warn
back-to-top-scroll